Iron Up!

“I can’t remember how it feels to not to be tired”, you must have heard these words quite often these days, not only because the lifestyle is hectic but also because we are unhealthy. Whenever the word unhealthy word comes to our mind, we imagine a picture of a malnutrition human, even a healthy looking human can be suffering from anaemia.

Iron deficiency anaemia is one of the bread and butter conditions pediatricians manage. At the first glance it looks simple suffering from malnutrition, give them iron and we are done. But nothing is simple when it comes to medicine, non-adherence to the medication, gastric side effects and unpleasant taste are some of the non-adhering factors of iron supplements.

What is Anaemia?

Anaemia is a medical condition in which the red blood cells of blood or the hemoglobin drops below the normal blood count. For men anaemia is typically defined less than 13.5 gram/100 ml of blood and for females if it is less than 12 gram/100ml. Your red blood cells carry oxygen and deliver it to the tissues for their functioning, just like toping up your car tank with fuel.

Not having enough red blood cells can leave you struggling in the morning and making you feel fatigue the whole day. Anaemia is a very symptomatic problem and can be very clearly sensed by just sensing the symptoms. You may have no symptoms at first, or very mild ones. However, when anaemia worsens symptoms become more apparent.

1. You’re exhausted and weak: The most common symptom is fatigue. Red blood cells are responsible for carrying oxygen, which helps in breaking the nutrients and helping the body to function. Lack of oxygen hinders the breakdown of nutrients leading to loss of energy.
2. Strange cravings for non-food things: There are some unclear reasons why people suffering from anaemia have the strange cravings for items which are non-food, this condition is known is Pica.
3. Dizziness and headaches: Lack of oxygen can lead to light headedness and dizziness which can even lead to fainting.
4. Chest Pain: Oxygen is important for functioning of heart. Lack of oxygen leads to abnormal flow of blood which can even lead to Myocardial Infarction or what more commonly can lead to heart failure.
5. Pale Skin: When your vital organs like brain and heart don’t get enough blood and oxygen, most of the blood components are diverted to these vital organs leaving the rest of the body lacking in oxygen which leads to pretty pale skin.

Living with Anaemia

With treatment Anaemia is manageable. It is important to note that treating anaemia is important for the quality of life. With the right diet and medications anaemia can be alleviated.

While supplements can help improve and be effective short term, a long term solution will be correct diet.